New | Thousands mourn slain protester as 'hero of Ukraine freedom'
Amid funeral procession, protesters nationwide vow to step up pressure on Yanukovych's government
Thousands of Ukrainians chanted “Hero!” and sang the national anthem on Sunday, as a coffin carrying a protester who was killed in last week’s clashes with police was carried through the streets of the capital, underscoring the rising tensions in the country’s two-month political crisis.
Mikhail Zhiznevsky, 25, was one of three protesters who died in clashes on Wednesday.
“He could have been my fiancé, but he died defending my future so that I will live in a different Ukraine,” said Nina Uvarov, a 25-year-old student from Kiev who wept as Zhiznevsky’s body was carried out of St Michael’s Cathedral.
The opposition contends that Zhiznevsky and another activist were shot by police in an area where demonstrators had been throwing rocks and firebombs at riot police for several days. The government claims the two demonstrators were killed with hunting rifles, which they say police do not carry.
The authorities would not say how the third protester died.
He could have been my fiancé, but he died defending my future so that I will live in a different Ukraine
Meanwhile, protests against President Viktor Yanukovych continued to engulf the country, and are now beginning to spread to central and eastern Ukraine, the leader’s support base.
